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Backlash over a legislative committee meeting on education funding Wednesday night continued into Thursday with the state school board unanimously voting to send a letter expressing its concerns over the process.
The board plans to send the letter to legislative leaders in coming days, noting members' displeasure with a nearly four-hour meeting Wednesday night in which the Public Education Appropriations Committee voted on whether to recommend about a dozen changes to education funding laws. Many of the recommendations had never been seriously publicly discussed in the weeks of meetings leading up to Wednesday.
"There were some really huge policy issues that were passed. … Not only did the public not see them, but even members of that committee didn't have time to see and ponder and think through those issues before they were summarily passed," said Debra Roberts, state school board chairwoman.
For example, the committee voted late Wednesday to recommend gradually shifting part of the cost of charter schools to school districts — a change lawmakers have tried to pass for years with limited success.
The committee also considered taking away some money districts receive for career and technical education if districts attempted to duplicate programs offered by nearby Utah College of Applied Technology campuses, though the committee did not, in the end, vote to recommend that.
Ultimately, the panel's recommendations will go to the Executive Appropriations Committee for consideration. Roberts said she hopes the Executive Appropriations Committee pulls those recommendations from the list and makes "sure that any chairs in any committee understand that kind of thing will not be allowed to happen again."